10+ Best Fighting Games to Play in 2024: Competitive Fighters

Fighting games are one of the greatest genres of game to ever exist… that is, once you’re past the massive barrier of entry that comes with the genre. Since Street Fighter 2 blew up back in the early ’90s, the best fighting games have continued getting better, leading us to the current generation where everyone is on their A-game, with Street Fighter, Tekken, and Guilty Gear all releasing top-tier entries.

While ranking so many of the best fighting games into just 10 entries is a nigh-impossible feat, we’ve compiled our choices down to top 2D and 3D fighting games, with considerations made to platforms such as PC, Xbox Series X, PS5, and Nintendo Switch. Our list includes classic and more up-to-date fighters you can play in 2024.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. 10 Best Fighting Games to Play in 2024
3. More of the Best Fighting Games to Play in 2024
4. The Bottom Line
5. FAQs
6. References

Show Full Guide

Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. 10 Best Fighting Games to Play in 2024
3. More of the Best Fighting Games to Play in 2024
Show Full Guide
4. The Bottom Line
5. FAQs
6. References

10 Best Fighting Games to Play in 2024

10. Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike

Street Fighter 6 may be fantastic. But Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike is in a league of its own. While it may have been considered a flop at launch, Street Fighter 3 has endured as one of the greatest fighting games ever made since then. The incredible music, the eclectic cast of fighters, and the incredible core fighting which made things that much smoother compared to previous games. And, of course, the parry.

Even in 2024, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike is one of the best fighting games to watch on a competitive level, with the game stealing the show at Evo 2024. While not as popular as its predecessor or its successor, Street Fighter III’s star has only risen in the time since.

9. Street Fighter 6

Street Fighter 6 set a gold standard for new fighting games when it was released in 2023. The fighting itself takes elements from all of the Street Fighter titles that came before and yet somehow still comes out with a cohesive system that feels 100% unique to this entry. The Drive Parry, Drive Rush, and Drive Impact systems make fights that much more exciting, and the reintroduction of three supers for each character is a welcome one.

Not to mention the fantastic World Tour mode, which introduces a single-player campaign to the series. Not only is it a great story mode in itself (evoking the likes of Yakuza in a weird way), but it also acts as a stealth tutorial for the real deal. The one downside is probably the roster, which plays it a bit too safe with the Street Fighter 2 cast, but outside of that, there’s not much to complain about. It’s one of the best fighting games on PS5, as that’s the version that is played at tournaments.

8. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate lives up to its name. It’s a massive fighting game with one of the biggest rosters outside of anime arena fighters or MUGEN. Featuring 80+ characters from Nintendo’s history, it’s undoubtedly the most impressive collection of characters in any game. Without question, it’s the best fighting game on Switch, as nothing comes close to what it offers.

Not only do we have classics like Mario, Zelda, and Kirby, but Smash also includes third-party guest characters en masse. Legends like Solid Snake, Cloud Strife, Steve from Minecraft, Ryu, and Terry Bogard all make an appearance in the game between the base roster and the excellent DLC additions. Not only that, but it has a staggering amount of stages, music, and a full campaign mode to dig into. And that’s not even everything.

7. Guilty Gear Strive

Guilty Gear has always been shredding away at its metaphorical guitar in the corner of the room, and no doubt the hardcore fans of the series will point to the likes of Guilty Gear XX or Xrd Revelator 2 for the best. But Strive, taking the series’ mechanics and aesthetic and adapting it into a more accessible fighter, was the series’ true coming-out moment. Anime fighters are known for being over the top and ridiculous, but Strive has the series resembling something closer to Street Fighter in terms of gameplay.

While the fighting is fantastic, Guilty Gear Strive is elevated by being one of the best-looking fighting games ever made. The art style perfectly captures a vivid hand-drawn anime aesthetic—despite the models actually being 3D, in a work of magic. Plus, the heavy metal soundtrack is among the best gaming has to offer, with almost every character theme being an absolute banger.

6. Garou: Mark of the Wolves

Despite the fact that the series hasn’t had a new release in over 20 years,? the last entry in the Fatal Fury series is SNK’s absolute best. Garou: Mark of the Wolves takes place many years after the end of Real Bout Fatal Fury 2; the series bad guy Geese Howard is dead, and his son Rock Howard is now on the scene. In fact, every single character in the game is a new fighter to the series, aside from the man himself, Terry Bogard, who has taken over the role of Rock’s father figure from his nemesis.

Garou’s main mechanic is the TOP system, which allows you to set a specific third of your life bar to become powered up with buffs, including increased damage, recovery, and a new special move to contend with. This adds an extra layer of strategy to the match, as you can come out swinging and try to frontload your offense or save it for the end of a bout. This, alongside the most refined version of Fatal Fury’s combat makes Garou still such an enduring classic to come back to. It’s one of the best fighting games on Steam, and all other platforms you can find it for.

5. Tekken 8

Tekken 8 is yet another great entry in the Tekken series. This time around, Bandai Namco has focused on injecting the series with a faster pace and more aggressive style than its predecessor Tekken 7. While an expensive title, you get a lot in the package, with a full cinematic story mode, Arcade Quest mode, classic arcade mode, and a cast of 32 fighters which are all customizable.

Tekken 8 does have some poor monetization strategies with a battle pass and an in-game shop for customization items. However, if you don’t care about cosmetics, then you can easily ignore these rough practices and devote yourself to the fighting. Plus, the game has some of the best training tools in the industry, thanks to its great replay feature. Thanks to its visual fidelity, it’s one of the best fighting games on Xbox Series X.

4. Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of the Super Heroes

While its sequels are the fan-favorites, for our money, the original Marvel vs Capcom: Clash of the Super Heroes is the best of the bunch. While later entries in the series go wild with the gameplay (namely MVC 2 and 3), the original Marvel Vs Capcom brings a solid amount of over-the-top action without being too over the top. One of our favorite aspects of the game is the assist system, which allows you to bring in fighters who aren’t playable to attack your enemy.

While the Capcom side of the roster doesn’t quite stack up due to an overabundance of Street Fighter representatives – mainly down to the time it was released (Resident Evil was only released two years prior, Devil May Cry didn’t exist yet, etc) – the oddities that do show up are solid however. Strider Hiryu, Captain Commando, and Mega Man are all fantastic additions to the cast, and Gambit is still our favorite Marvel character to play in the whole series. Simply put, It’s one of the best fighting games of all time, and now newer generations will get to experience it.

3. Killer Instinct

Rebooting the classic 90’s fighter. 2013’s Killer Instinct is an absolute banger in the world of fighters. While it hasn’t had a new character in many years, the roster that is available is fantastic. You not only have the classic KI cast lik

e Fulgore, Spinal, and Orchid, but guest fighters like Halo’s Arbiter, Gears of War’s Raam, and Rash from Battletoads making an appearance.

It’s also probably the first soundtrack to put legendary Doom composer Mick Gordon on the map, with an absolutely phenomenal set of fighter tracks. Spinal’s theme is a Viking war chant; Orchid has a vocal theme courtesy of Ali Edwards (who did Devil Trigger for Devil May Cry 5), and Jago’s throat singing makes for a unique set of bangers for the fighter. It’s one of the best free fighting games around but is even better with the Anniversary Edition.

2. Rivals of Aether

Super Smash Bros-inspired fighters are quite common. But to us, no one did it better than Rivals of Aether. Featuring a unique cast of original characters and some interesting indie guests like Ori and Shovel Knight. It’s a faster-paced fighter than the likes of Smash Bros Ultimate, being heavily inspired by Melee. It’s one of the best fighting games on Steam.

On PC the game has Steam Workshop support, meaning there’s an endless amount of custom characters and stages. Like genuinely great creations such as Peppino from Pizza Tower, Shadow the Hedgehog, and The Knight from Hollow Knight. Then there are the memes, like speedrunner Mario, Morshu from the Zelda CD-I games, and even Barack Obama. This support pushed Rivals from a great fighter to an absolute must-play.

1. The King of Fighters 13

While many will swear by The King of Fighters 98 or 2002 as the greatest entry, we feel like KOF 13 is actually the series’ peak. The 3 vs. 3 fighting feels as fantastic as ever, but what pushes it to the top is the absolutely gorgeous sprite work. This marked the last time that SNK would use sprites for the series, and it went out with a bang. These massive detailed renditions still stand the test of time today.

The only real downside with The King of Fighters 13 is that the roster has some massive omissions. There’s no Geese Howard, no Shermie, no Rock Howard (or anyone from Mark of the Wolves, for that matter), and no Samurai Shodown representation either. But even the gameplay and phenomenal artwork keep us coming back.

More of the Best Fighting Games to Play in 2024

The Bottom Line

Even the best fighting games have a barrier of entry before you get good at them, but once it clicks, there’s no better feeling than pulling off a clutch win in a fighter. In the future, we have exciting releases like Capcom Fighting Collection 2, 2XKO, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, and Rivals 2, the genre is going to keep thriving.

FAQs